I am a “serial” PEAK mentor!

I have had the privilege of mentoring five young women.  Lorena ’03, Sylvia ’08, Alyssa ’16, Breona ’22 and Emily ’27. I have spent four years with each of them in high school and am still in touch and friends with all of them.  They are my favorite girls…I’m immensely proud of each of them and love my time with them.

 I became a PEAK mentor because I wanted to make an impact in a way that I could really see. Perhaps a bit selfish, but I had been on other charity boards and committees doing important fundraising, but was seeking to do work on the “ground level.” It can be frustrating to try to solve the challenges that so many of Chicago’s youth face…this is a one-kid-at-a-time approach. And it works.

If you are considering becoming a mentor, you are most likely ready!  The job is about sharing resources and creating dreams and opportunities for your scholar.  You likely do this every day in your own life.  I’ve found that many students lack the network at home or in their neighborhoods to understand what they CAN be.  They haven’t been exposed to many people who went to college, or have successful careers either in a trade or an office job. You will show them social skills without even trying.  Exposing them to different food, cultures, parts of the city, sports, occupations…whatever you both enjoy, is giving them a new foundation to set goals for their lives.

When I first met Lorena I thought…”Oh no…we have NOTHING in common…this is going to be bad.”  I now know that she was thinking the same. She is Mexican, raised in Cicero in a very big family and I’m from Ohio, transplanted to Chicago with no usable knowledge of her culture.  It started slowly, but we bonded in learning that we both had a bit of type A personalities and were conscientious students. Through many museum trips, dinners after school, and meeting her family, we formed a great friendship.  It definitely takes time. We worked on homework, I met and grew to know her friends, and later visited colleges, filled out applications and celebrated her admittance to DePaul.  There were certainly ups and downs, but PEAK was there with all of the support that we needed through the years. Planned outings, tutoring, access to other mentors and a phone number to get advice and direction on whatever came up.

As a freshmen in high school Lorena told me that she wanted to be a secretary. I said great! But I also said that I thought she could have a secretary someday.

I was right.

Lorena graduated from DePaul with a Bachelors degree in Finance.  She is now a VP at a very large bank managing a team.  She’s married with a gorgeous baby boy, owns her home and is happy!  She is a treasured friend that I have learned from since the moment we met.

PEAK changes lives.  Scholars and mentors.  I am grateful for this organization that has given me the opportunity to walk alongside these special students and be a part of ensuring that they get to be everything they deserve to be.